All right, if you can't beat'em, join'em. As I've already touched upon, I'm not generally a fan of the superhero genre. For years and years, I've stubbornly refused to get involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which means that a lot of pop culture references in other media have passed me by. I have also had to bear, with irritating regularity, that my favourite geeky YouTube channels dedicated time not to interesting analyses and theories about Disney, Pixar, Doctor Who or Star Wars, but – Marvel. Fricking Marvel, again and again. It became really bad when the series WandaVision first aired on Disney +. I wanted some theories about Raya and the Last Dragon about then, over-analysing of the trailers and so forth, but no – it was all WandaVision, WandaVision, WandaVision. Still I didn't consider giving in and discovering what the fuss was about. Not until now.
Disney found a way to maximise the brand I couldn't resist. They announced a whole TV series about Loki. I know I've been a bit sniffy about Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager, but that doesn't mean he isn't seriously foxy as the mischievous Asgardian. And I mean, it's Loki! I may not know much about comic books, but I know what I like mythologically. Plus, the series was hailed in some quarters as Doctor Who done right. As a villain-lover with a geeky streak, clearly I had to check this out. But I haven't yet done so, as I figured I needed to see the Marvel movies (or films, but they are American, so...) first. At least most of them. And there are... quite a lot.
The good news is, they're actually good. It didn't take long before I stopped thinking of my Marvel movie of the week plan as homework and started enjoying them. And since I'm watching them, I may as well milk them for blogging content. Get ready for the pig-ignorance of a casual viewer with next to no knowledge of the original comic book stories. At least I can give other villain-lovers some pointers. The list of Marvel movies I'm watching is the one available on Disney + in Sweden, so there will be some omissions (The Incredible Hulk and the Spiderman movies). Let's start with what the powers that be on Marvel/Disney call "phase one":
Iron Man
So is Loki in this one? Not likely – this is the origin story of Iron Man i.e. Tony Stark, not Thor. They're not going to hit us with mystical realms in space/another dimension or something and their inhabitants yet.
Any other interesting villains, then? What can I say? They're not bad. They're... functional. You understand why they do what they do. There's nothing here for a villain-lover to get very excited about, but the grounded motives of the villains match the almost-realistic feel of the movie. Of course a terrorist would want extra powerful weapons, and it makes sense that he wouldn't have a lot of comic-booky eccentric traits but simply be a very tough and intimidating guy. And I can really understand Tony Stark's business partner being none too pleased when Tony, severely shocked after a stint as a hostage, announces that Stark Industries will stop making weapons, as it's impossible to make sure that they're only used by the US. (The US using them is fine – Stark's no pacifist.) What the hey? Stark Industries are primarily arms manufacturers. How are they going to keep making money then? Clearly, judging by Tony's lifestyle, they find a way, but even now, many movies later, I don't know how.
A terrorist villain and a business villain, then, who do what's expected of them. Their names? Sorry, no idea.
Overall impression: The wisecracking, arrogant Tony Stark as played by Robert Downey Jr. is an endearingly flawed hero, and the film doesn't feel very "out there" at all. If anything, it was a bit too gritty for my taste. It's like a tough action movie where the protagonist happens to invent a super-powerful iron suit. Possibly something for Die Hard fans.
Iron Man 2
So is Loki... He's not, is he? Nope.
Any other interesting villains, then? I did think Whiplash aka the Russian guy aka Ivan Vanko had potential (at least enough for me to bother to look up the name on IMDB). He has a good motive: his father, an inventor who worked with Tony's dad Howard Stark, got exiled because of Stark and died in misery while the inventions he worked on at Stark Industries kept generating money for little Tone. It's almost refreshing that Tony doesn't feel the least bit bad about this: it's all "Well, Vanko's dad was a spy, so...". On the other hand, this leads to the theme of the hero's and villain's dad working together not being properly explored, and the potential of Whiplash, in spite of a cool performance from Mickey Rourke, remained pretty much wasted. And we never found out what the deal was with that bird.
Justin Hammer, Tony's business rival, is another villain with a grounded, believable motive. Of course he's envious of Tony Stark both on a professional level and a personal one: Tony isn't what one would call a gracious winner. But a character who's set up to be a pale copy of the hero can't pull a lot of villain weight. Hammer gets effortlessly played by Whiplash, who in many ways remains a mystery.
Overall impression: The standalone Iron Man movies aren't really my cup of tea, in spite of Robert Downey Jr.'s undeniable charm and the funny quips. As an action movie, the first one is better. On the villain front, Iron Man 2 is slightly more interesting, though.
Thor
So is Loki in this one? You bet! He's the main villain.
Wow, finally! So does he live up to the hype? I'd say yes. He's funny and clever in a so-sharp-he'll-cut-himself way which is actually slightly reminiscent of his mythological counterpart, and I love the slight and pasty look. Don't expect the Thor movies to follow Viking mythology, though, because they don't – not at all. In this story, Loki is Thor's (as it turns out adopted) brother, and is resentful of standing in his heroic but dim beefcake sibling's shadow. And then he finds out the dice were loaded against him from the start and gets really mad.
OK, promising. Any other villains around? There are some Frost Giants who make their presence felt. They and their king look satisfyingly Dark Horde-ish, but as with the other Thor movies any villain not belonging to the Odinson clan has little to do except to look mythically intimidating and occasionally destroy stuff.
Overall impression: This film is a little unexpected, as there aren't nearly as much in the way of fantasy-style shenanigans as one would have thought. (Asgard is a place in outer space somewhere, plus possibly in another dimension, but the inhabitants aren't actually gods.) For a fair space of the time Thor, who has been banished to Earth, is simply getting his bearings and confusing a team of scientists, including his love interest Jane Foster. Story-wise, it's not the most thrilling Marvel movie, but it does set up the characters of Thor and Loki nicely for future adventures. I don't usually like dim-witted beefcakes much, but Chris Hemsworth's Thor is unexpectedly charming, so I could bear his presence well.
Captain America: The First Avenger
So, is Loki in this one? That would be a no.
Any other interesting villains, then? Not on paper. The main villain is literally a mad Nazi – in fact his secret organisation Hydra (it's never "Little Butterfly", is it?), dedicated to questionable research experiments, is so extreme even the other Nazis are shaking their heads and thinking the whole thing's a bit rum. But I do like the way he's set up. He's introduced as plain Johann Schmidt, but it's clear from the start there's more to him than just scientific knowledge. He can easily shove aside a tomb stone a band of soldiers couldn't budge. He's been through some kind of terrible ordeal. There seems to be something wrong with his face. His Nazi masters call him "Red Skull" for some reason... It's a really effective bit-by-bit villain reveal. Hugo Weaving, whom I dimly remember as a standoffish elf in the Ring trilogy (it's a long time since I saw it) is a good choice to play Schmidt. Personality-wise, however, Toby Jones's self-serving scientist sidekick makes more of an impression.
Overall impression: I didn't expect to like this movie, but I really enjoyed it! This was when Marvel prep started to be fun in earnest for me. The building up of the villain is only one example of how well-constructed the story is. As for the hero, the movie addresses all the things superhero sceptics could ask themselves – why the ridiculous name, why a special suit, what's so great with that shield anyway? – as well as making Steve Rogers a sweet-natured and surprisingly engaging hero, for all that he's a bit of a boy scout.
The Avengers
I expect Loki isn't in this one? Yes, he is. He's the main villain again.
Really? Yay! So the whole ensemble of heroes is fighting Loki? Yep, that sort of sums up the movie, to be honest.
Any other villains? Nah, an anonymous army of alien soldiers. But Loki's enough.
Overall impression: This movie is a good test, if you're considering catching up with Marvel's stuff but not quite sure if it's for you. If you enjoy it, push on. If not, then you probably won't like most of the Marvel movies to come, either. I liked the banter between the characters better than the grand action set pieces. You can just about follow what happens without having seen the others films – I'd say it's the last Marvel movie, at least the last one starring an ensemble of heroes, where you can "go in blind" – but it does help to have seen the others, because you'll be more invested. The movies have made a good job of setting the heroes up as likeable in their separate ways, and it's fun to see how they learn to work together in spite of their wildly different personalities. This isn't a deep film – it's the quintessential "popcorn movie". But it's entertaining, and there's no humourless, pompous justice warrior with a "secret identity" (the kind of superhero I really don't care for) in sight. Though there may be the odd cape.
